iPhone XS 4G vs LTE

[lah]

Just got back from Europe last week and I got good use of the dual sim capabilities on the XS.
One thing I noticed that when I was roaming using my ATT sim, the data connection said LTE. But when I used the local SIM (same provider that ATT was roaming on), the data connection said 4G. Is 4G and LTE the same thing? Is the LTE display next to the carrier only used in the US? This is the first time using a local SIM so I've never seen the 4G before.

One thing I noticed was that the local SIM was much faster than using the same carrier via the ATT SIM (sometimes twice as fast).

 

[jakeuten]

4G is the same as LTE in every other part of the world, yep. You can blame everyone's beloved T-Mobile for starting that and AT&T for eventually following suit.

 

[fred98tj]

LTE is not the same as 4G. LTE doesn’t meet the speed requirements of 4G.

https://www.signalbooster.com/blogs/news/the-difference-between-4g-and-lte

Tons of info if you spend a few mins to google it.

 

[atmc]

In Europe you have:
GPRS
EDGE
3G (up to 42mbps)
4G (up to 300mbps I guess, not sure if there are carriers with higher speeds)

Nothing else.

Basically:
USA -> Europe
3G -> 3G
4G -> 3G
LTE -> 4G

 

[KAOSTheory]

LTE is not the same as 4G. LTE doesn’t meet the speed requirements of 4G.

https://www.signalbooster.com/blogs/news/the-difference-between-4g-and-lte

Tons of info if you spend a few mins to google it.

That article is horrid. LTE that is used nowdays is 4G. It was only the initial LTE release that just missed the 4G mark.

 

[fred98tj]

That article is horrid. LTE that is used nowdays is 4G. It was only the initial LTE release that just missed the 4G mark.

It’s not the same still:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/4g-vs-lte/
[doublepost=1558248025][/doublepost]In the US it’s the marketing crap that the carriers use. Certainly faster than 3G.
It’s kind of like the crap that AT&T is using. Something like “5Ge” bullcrap.

 

[KAOSTheory]

It’s not the same still:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/4g-vs-lte/
[doublepost=1558248025][/doublepost]In the US it’s the marketing crap that the carriers use. Certainly faster than 3G.
It’s kind of like the crap that AT&T is using. Something like “5Ge” bullcrap.

Yep true that they aren't the same. They aren't even the same class of thing, comparing apples to oranges. 2G/3G/4G/5G/nG is a generational standard for download/upload speeds for WWAN transmissions. LTE is a WWAN/Cell technology that has become the current standard for WWAN transmission. The original LTE release missed the mark to qualify as 4G capable, but like you said carriers mismarketed it as "4G LTE" anyways along with HSPA+, a "3.5G" technology (which was an evolution of W-CDMA, which is essentially what people call 3G). It is just like what is happening now with 5Ge like you say, which is mostly just LTE-Advanced with 4-5CC aggregation and stuff. LTE at its initial start was not 4G capable, but it now is, and future revisions will be 4G, and 5G, and 6G, etc. capable given no other technology replaces it.

Source: Working at a wireless certification body

 

[lah]

Yep true that they aren't the same. They aren't even the same class of thing, comparing apples to oranges. 2G/3G/4G/5G/nG is a generational standard for download/upload speeds for WWAN transmissions. LTE is a WWAN/Cell technology that has become the current standard for WWAN transmission. The original LTE release missed the mark to qualify as 4G capable, but like you said carriers mismarketed it as "4G LTE" anyways along with HSPA+, a "3.5G" technology (which was an evolution of W-CDMA, which is essentially what people call 3G). It is just like what is happening now with 5Ge like you say, which is mostly just LTE-Advanced with 4-5CC aggregation and stuff. LTE at its initial start was not 4G capable, but it now is, and future revisions will be 4G, and 5G, and 6G, etc. capable given no other technology replaces it.

Source: Working at a wireless certification body

So are American SIM cards just programmed to display a 4G signal as LTE or in ATT’s case 5Ge for LTE-Advanced?
Like I mentioned in my initial post, iPhone w/ dual sims. One was an ATT eSIM roaming on Orange’s network and the other was a local Orange SIM. The ATT branded SIM read LTE and the Local Orange SIM read 4G.

 

[KAOSTheory]

So are American SIM cards just programmed to display a 4G signal as LTE or in ATT’s case 5Ge for LTE-Advanced?
Like I mentioned in my initial post, iPhone w/ dual sims. One was an ATT eSIM roaming on Orange’s network and the other was a local Orange SIM. The ATT branded SIM read LTE and the Local Orange SIM read 4G.

What shows up in the corner is decided by the carrier and is set usually by whatever cell tower you are connected to + what technology you are talking with. I cant really give a definitive answer with the information you have, you would have to ask your carriers about what it really means. It might be just a safety thing for AT&T to just show LTE now, whereas the orange carrier decides to advertise 4G